


Roots

by Lynse



Category: Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja
Genre: Conversations, Friendship, Gen, One Shot, Post Series, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynse/pseuds/Lynse
Summary: The Sorcerer is gone, but he left some roots behind. At least, thatmightbe what First Ninja is trying to say. Randy’s really not sure.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 38





	Roots

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AzTheDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzTheDragon/gifts).



> Originally [posted on tumblr](https://ladylynse.tumblr.com/post/180421859051/happy-birthday-azthedragon-heres-a-rc9gn) and written for AzTheDragon's birthday. Standard disclaimers apply.

Now that the Sorcerer was gone, things were actually pretty bruce. Randy didn’t have to worry about kids getting stanked anymore, and that cut out _a lot_ of work. He had way more time to play all the different versions of Grave Puncher with Howard or hit the arcade, and he managed to complete more assignments than before.

McFist was still after him, but Randy wasn’t entirely sure why. They’d worked together _against_ the Sorcerer. And without him trying to get free, McFist didn’t gain a whole lot by destroying the Ninja. That didn’t stop him and Viceroy from sending robots to the school, though—and a questionable new frozen yogurt machine that Randy would enjoy more if it didn’t have a warning sign printed on it. (To his knowledge, Debbie had written but not yet published something about it. He was willing to see where the chips fell on this one, especially since he knew how to reverse the process if anyone got monsterfied like Howard had from the soupsicles.)

Of course, McFist might be genuinely curious about the Ninja’s identity, like Debbie.

More likely, he thought he could gain something. Cut a deal with the Ninja, maybe, or figure out the secret to his longevity…. McFist seemed to have realized that the Ninja was a high school student, just like Debbie had, but he didn’t think either of them had figured out how it worked.

Whatever the reason behind McFist’s fervor, Randy was expecting a robot attack at any point, since it had been about a week since the last one and that was typically how quickly Viceroy managed to pull those guys together.

He was not really expecting to see the Nomicon flashing at him when he was about to go for lunch.

Howard didn’t miss it, either. He slammed his locker closed, locked it, and said, “It’s gravy cheese fries day, Cunningham. How can you miss it now that they _finally_ added cheese to the gravy fries?”

“It probably won’t take long,” Randy said, but he couldn’t sound confident when he had no idea what the Nomicon wanted. “Can you grab mine?”

Howard let out an exaggerated sigh. “ _Fine_. But if you take too long, I cannot guarantee they’ll still be there.”

“Howard!”

“They aren’t good cold! It’s a crime to let them get cold. I can’t let you do that.”

Randy frowned. Maybe he could just ignore the Nomicon. He wasn’t convinced he could trust Howard not to inhale both their lunches before he got back. Sure, ignoring the Nomicon had been bad in the past, but how important could it be now that the Sorcerer was gone?

Almost as if it knew what he was thinking, the Nomicon started flashing faster.

Randy’s resolve wavered. “Maybe I’d better—”

“Yeah, fine, whatever, Cunningham. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Randy slung his bag back over his shoulder, barely taking the time to shut his locker before running off to the safety of the washroom. This shouldn’t take long. There was nothing vitally important. It should be able to wait until he was home from school. It should—

Randy opened the Nomicon and fell.

He wound up belly-flopping into a lake. It didn’t hurt as much as actual water would’ve, but he still came to the surface spluttering. There was no shore in sight, at least not right now, so Randy decided to tread water and wait. It shouldn’t be long, and he didn’t want to wind up swimming in the wrong direction.

At some point he blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, a boat was being poled towards him.

Warily, Randy put his feet down and realized the lake was now shallow enough to stand in. Even after all this time, he wasn’t _quite_ used to the shifting landscape within the Nomicon. Not when it came to things like this, anyway.

After another few seconds of standing in chest-deep water and watching swirled drops roll off of him and leave him dry, Randy realized that the Ninja in the boat wasn’t the doodled Ninja he was used to seeing. It was First Ninja. In the—well, not the _flesh_ , but…the ink? Whatever. It was _First Ninja_. Even after the Sorcerer’s defeat, Randy rarely saw him.

Maybe this _was_ important.

“First Ninja?” he asked cautiously as the boat drew up alongside him. “Um. There’s no way I could take a rain check on this, is there? Y’see, I’m kinda missing gravy cheese fries right now, and Howard is not kidding when he says he’ll eat mine. This isn’t really a good time.”

First Ninja cocked his head at him. “The cherry tree cannot choose the timing of the seasons but must awaken and flower, fruit and sleep, as the cycles turn.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know anything about trees. And now’s just not good _for me_. So if this isn’t pressing, maybe we could do this after school’s out instead of during lunch.”

In response, First Ninja secured the pole, knelt, and reached an arm out to Randy. That obviously meant rescheduling wasn’t going to happen, so Randy gave in and took it. First Ninja pulled him up without any visible strain, which either spoke to his strength or Randy’s lack of a physical body. Was _he_ made of ink while he was in here? He never looked doodled when he looked at himself, but—

First Ninja shifted so he was sitting cross-legged on the deck, and Randy joined him. There had to be a more pressing matter than figuring out how the Nomicon worked. “So? What’s so important that I have to miss gravy cheese fries?”

“Knowledge is a greater weapon than—”

“ _Knowledge_ could wait till after lunch.”

“The Norisu Nine did not fight the Sorcerer alone,” First Ninja pointed out, “and—”

“I know, I know, watch out for the Sorceress. We’ve _had_ this conversation. She hasn’t gone anywhere.” Randy paused. “She, uh, hasn’t gone anywhere, right?”

First Ninja shrugged. “Only what is looked for can be seen.”

“So that means you don’t know?”

A sigh. “Corruption is a poison that festers when unchecked, spreading as readily by resentment as by the hand of an enemy. If the roots are not removed, it _will_ grow again.”

Randy stared at First Ninja, trying to figure out what he was talking about. He _really_ needed to work on updating his speech patterns. This was hard. “But when the two halves of the Sorcerer merged, he disintegrated. Or something. He’s gone. There aren’t any more roots.”

First Ninja shook his head. “Not all that which exists can be easily seen.”

“But I _know_ to watch for the Sorceress. What other roots are there?”

First Ninja just looked at him and waited.

Randy bit his lip. “Are you talking about loose ends? Like Booray? Because he technically knows who I am? Or because he’s using some kind of magic to enslave all those animals and he’s probably doing it again even after I wonked his first stuff?”

Now, First Ninja looked alarmed. “That which is seen cannot be unseen!” he hissed.

“Yeah, and that which is known cannot be unknown. I got that. But after I accidentally sicced Booray on Ranginald Bagel, McFist is never gonna believe he _actually_ knows who the Ninja is. I mean, really, if there are loose ends, then wouldn’t it be the fact that I deserve a new totally bruce sword after what I did?”

“A sword is only as strong as the Ninja who wields it.”

“So…two swords?”

First Ninja pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something. Then, slowly, painfully, “It would be…bruce…if you would address the roots left behind with McFist and this Booray, for the Ninja— _you_ —must be prepared to battle any evil. The known enemy is not the only enemy. A single defeat does not ensure a won war. The Ninja who is careless will be the Ninja no more, and the legacy of the Nine will be lost.”

“Okay, it’s not like I’m going to lose the Ninja Mask or anything. I mean, not _again_. So chill, First Ninja. I got this. You want me to ransack Booray’s place and wonk up his creepy control magic? No problemo. But McFist just…makes Viceroy build more robots whenever I wonk their cheese. I’m kinda shoobed when it comes to that. Besides, it’s _easy_ to beat those robots. Usually.”

First Ninja stared at him for a few long seconds before shaking his head. He reached over the side of the boat, scooped up a handful of water, and tossed it into the air. The water shimmered into steam, showing a ninja fighting off a multitude of animalistic monsters. The monsters came with increasing frequency, eventually overwhelming the Ninja, and the scene dissipated entirely.

First Ninja seemed to be waiting for him to say something, so Randy settled on the most important thing. “That is the _cheese_. You need to teach me how to manipulate things in here, First Ninja. Is that our real lesson for today? How to control the Nomicon?”

First Ninja sighed. “Small problems do not remain so.”

_Oh_. That’s what he meant. The monsters were supposed to be robots. It would’ve been better this _had_ been a lesson to control the environment in the Nomicon, but whatever. Randy was willing to pick his battles and fight for this later. It would probably take a while, and he was still hopeful that he could actually get out in time to eat lunch.

Randy affected a hurt look. “I’m not ignoring them! I beat all the robots.”

First Ninja didn’t seem remotely fooled. Maybe Plop-Plop pulled the same trick. “The Ninja who is blind to the poison cannot stop its spread. That which is not looked for cannot be seen.”

This was starting to make his head hurt. “But I _do_ see the robots. Viceroy only did the invisible thing once.”

“The puppet only dances if its strings are pulled.”

“So…cut the strings?” It almost certainly wasn’t the answer. It was the obvious answer, so it wouldn’t be the one First Ninja actually wanted.

Sure enough, he shook his head.

And waited.

Of course.

Randy groaned and tried to piece together what First Ninja had talked about. He seemed happy to let Randy get rid of Booray’s mind control magic, so how was that different from taking out McFist’s robots? The robots were a more common problem for him and everyone else, so weren’t they the roots First Ninja was talking about?

The water around them was starting to writhe, roiling in a crosswind that hadn’t existed three breaths ago. Their boat spun suddenly, knocking Randy over, though First Ninja merely swayed with each motion. “What the juice, First Ninja?” It had been calm a moment ago, and First Ninja had already demonstrated how easily he could manipulate the world of the Nomicon.

“Sometimes pressure,” First Ninja replied as it started pelting rain from clouds that had only just formed, “can clear the mind.”

“Or make things worse!” squawked Randy, trying to find something to hold onto so he wasn’t thrown overboard.

“The answer is within,” First Ninja pointed out as the first wave broke over them. “If looked for, it will be seen.”

“That doesn’t help!” Randy sputtered, but then another wave crashed over them and he lost his grip on the gunwale and was swept into the lake.

He sat up, gasping for breath as the Nomicon swung shut in his lap. He couldn’t see any feet under any of the other stalls, so the bathroom was still empty. Thankfully. He got to his feet and shoved the Nomicon back into his bag. “You could be a little clearer,” he told it, but he got no response.

He washed his hands and ran to the cafeteria. Howard was sitting and their usual table, and Randy slid in beside him, making a grab for the remainder of his gray cheese fries even as he panted for breath.

Howard reached across and plucked another one from the basket anyway, even as Randy grabbed a handful. “What’d the Nomicon have to say?”

Randy shook his head, his mouth already full of deliciousness, and waved his hands instead.

“Nothing important,” Howard surmised.

Randy swallowed. “Something about McFist. And Booray. And poison roots and strings that can’t be cut.”

“So nothing important.”

Randy shoved another handful of fries into his mouth and shrugged.

“Well, it’s not like the Sorcerer’s around to stank people, anyway. Grave Puncher 10 after school?”

Randy crammed the last of the fries into his mouth and nodded.

Before he had a chance to lick his fingers clean, the screaming started.

Howard rolled his eyes as Randy jerked to his feet. “Yeah, yeah, _Ninja-o’-clock_. That still sounds stupid. You should tell McFist to cut you some slack with the Sorcerer gone. What’s he want, anyway?”

“No idea.” Randy grabbed a napkin, mostly cleaned off his fingers, and then wiped the rest on his pants. “Cover for me if I’m not back in time.”

“You owe me, Cunningham!” Howard yelled as Randy ran off.

A quick check to make sure the coast was clear and a smoke bomb later, and the Ninja was outside to face down Viceroy’s latest robot. A Robo-Spider, from the looks of it. Randy peered down at its many eyes (laser blasters, no doubt) from his perch on the roof of the school. Howard actually had a point. Maybe he should just ask what McFist wanted.

Not here, though.

Not this way.

Leading the Robo-Spider back to McFist Industries, though?

That might get his attention.

And some answers.

And maybe it would get the Nomicon off his back for a while, too, even if he wasn’t sure what First Ninja actually wanted him to do. This would be a start.

Grinning, Randy palmed a few Ninja Tripping Balls and flipped down to face his latest opponent.


End file.
